Blank-book



(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

T. ELLIOTT.

BLANK BOOK.

Patented May 24, 1898.

WITNESSES W ATTURNEYJ:

ma NORB-S PETERS cu. PHOTO-LITNO. wAsHlNcToN, D, c.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

T. ELLIOTT;

BLANK BOOK.

AIENT Orrron.

THOMAS ELLIOTT, OF REXBURG, IDAHO, ASSIGNOR OF TVVO-TIIIRDS TO GEORGE B. ROGERS AND LORENZO R. THOMAS, OF BLAOKFOOT,

IDAHO.

BLANK BOOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 604,522, dated May 24, 1898.

Application filed April 29,1897. Serial No. 684,431. (No specimens.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS ELLIOTT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rexburg, in the county of Fremont and State of Idaho, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Blank-Books; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has relation to improvements in the construction of blank-books, and more particularly to that class of consecutive-entry day and cash books and the like wherein the leaves are formed with detachable portions adapted to be removed consecutively or in regular order as each page is filled up to enable the bookkeeper or accountant to readily distinguish between the filled and blank leaves and to immediately open the book at the page next to be written on.

. The primary object of my invention is to provide a book of the character described having a novel construction and arrangement of the detachable leaf portions, and in addition thereto a fin ger-insertion recess in its cover, said detachable portions and recess being located, respectively, at the top or upper edges of the leaves and cover in line with each other, whereby the operation of opening the book is facilitated and rendered easier and certain important and desirable advantages are obtained, as will appear more fully hereinafter.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of an open blank-book embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the upper edge of the closed book. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the same. Fig. l is a perspective view illustrating the extremely simple and effective manner in which the largest blank-books embodying my invention may be opened.

Referring now more particularly to the said drawings, 1 represents the front cover, 2 the back cover, and 3 the leaves comprising the book proper. These leaves are ruled in the usual manner and formed with a deep upper marginal portion 3.

In accordance with my invention I provide the front cover 1 with a well-defined semicircular recess 4, formed in its top edge between the center and outer end thereof or outer side edge of the cover, and each leaf 3 is also provided in its upper marginal portion 3 with a semicircular row of perforations 5, forming a correspondinglyshaped detachable portion 6, the said detachable portions of all the leaves being arranged in alinement with each other and with the said recess in the cover.

An important feature of my invention resides in the fact that the recess is cleanly cut and has no rough edges to mar the appearance of the cover. IVhen the recess is formed in the stiff backing of the cover in the process of making the book, the cloth or leather binding, with which books of this class are furnished, is stretched over the curved edge formed by said recess, thus leaving no projecting surfaces to become frayed, torn,or displaced from frequent handling. This would not be true of a cover having a perforated detachable portion, for the reason that such portion when removed would carry with it a portion of the cloth or leather, and not only would a rough unsightly edge be left, but the edge of the binding would be unsightly, free, and unconfined and open to the objections above set forth. This important advantage I am enabled to attain by the particular manner of forming the recess above set forth.

In operation the detachable portion 6 of each leaf is removed when the leaf is filled. This operation may be repeated indefinitely, or until the entire book has been entirely filled up and all of the perforated portions removed. The closed book is laid on the desk with the back cover 2 uppermost, the front cover 1 with the recess L being contiguous to the desk. The page on which the last entry is made may now be conveniently turned to and the book instantly opened by inserting the index or the second finger of the right hand or both of them, as desired, so as to grasp the portion 6 of the first page having said portion intact, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4. It will thus be seen that the operation of opening the book is purely mechanical and may be performed with one hand without the necessity of turning over the leaves or of preliminarily examining either the book or leaves before the book is opened.

I am aware that books provided with leaves having detachable portions adapted to be removed for the purpose of distinguishing between the used and unused pages have been heretofore employed; but so far as I am aware these detachable portions have been located either at the corners or at the side edges of the leaves; but this is objectionable and not applicable to entry, day, and cash books and the like for many reasons, among which I may name the following: The leaves of these books are usually ruled and concaved at the outer side edges, which renders it impracticable to employ detachable portions at this point, because the detachable portions could not be made sufficiently deep without cutting into the ruled portions of the pages or providing projecting portions, which are liable to crease and curl up. The operation of opening the bookwould also be rendered extremely awkward and inconvenient. I entirely obviate these objections by locating the detachable portions at the top edges of the leaves between the center and outer side edges of the marginal portions 3 out of the way of the portion reserved for writing and at a point where the book may be opened in the easiest and most convenient manner.

I am also aware that it has been heretofore proposed to form the leaves and cover of a book with perforations, such perforations in the cover being made with the supposed object of detaching a portion of the cover to form a recess; but this is objectionable and impracticable in the class of books to which my invention appertains for many reasons obvious to any one skilled in the art.

I do not therefore claim, broadly, a book having its leaves formed with detachable portions and its cover formed with a finger-re cess. I do, however, claim a consecutive-entry book having its leaves provided with detachable portions and its front cover provided with a recess constructed and arranged in the specific manner herein shown and described that is to say, the detachable portions being formed in the marginal portion at the head of each leaf between the center and outer edges thereof and the recess in the top edge of the cover in alinement, when the cover is closed, with said detachable portions. It will be understood that by the specific manner of forming the recess referred to I mean initially cutting a piece out of the cover, so as to leave a smooth clean edge, over which the binding may be stretched, and not first perforating the cover and subsequently removin g the detachable portion thus formed. By this means I provide a consecutive-entry book embodying important and essential advantages due to its peculiar construction alone, and which, while providing a neat, durable, and substantial book, renders the operation of making and using the book easier and much more satisfactory.

'In Fig. 4 of the drawings the mode of opening the book at the last entry is clearly illustrated, and from this it will be seen that the particular location of the detachable leaf portions and recesses enables a firm purchase to be had and the book to be opened in a natural and convenient manner. The operation is purely mechanical, and the operator is not subjected to the annoyance and loss of time involved in using both hands or first examing the leaves to find the proper page before opening the book.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and useful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

As an improved article of manufacture, a consecutive-entry book comprising the solid back cover 2, the front cover 1 provided in its top edge with a recess 4 formed as described and arranged between the center and outer side edge thereof, and the leaves 3 having the alined detachable portions 6 formed at the upper edges of their head marginal portions 3, each detachable portion being arranged between the center and outer side edge of said marginal portion and separated from the body of the same by an intervening row of perforations 5, substantially as herein shown and described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS ELLIOTT.

Witnesses:

LORENZO R. THOMAS, J OHN T. SMELLIE. 

